This invention relates to a greeting card. In praticular, the invention relates to a greeting card wherein at least part of the greeting or message thereon is hidden from view.
There are many different types of greeting cards for different events or occasions, for example birthday cards, congratulatory cards, "get well" cards, post cards, etc. The sender normally selects a card from a variety of cards having different designs and messages or greetings and then forwards the selected card to the addressee. Such card sending is commonplace and the receipt of a conventional greeting card is often taken for granted by the addressee. That is, the card may not elicit a response from the addressee. To personalise the exercise of card giving, the card sender often picks a card having a distincitive message or greeting thereon or one which the sender considers would appeal to the receiver.
Novelty greeting cards also have been devised to enliven the sending of messages. Such novelty cards include musical cards, illuminated cards and pop-up cards.
One type of novelty greeting card contains a so-called "hidden message". For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,581 teaches a greeting card which has a message hidden in a crossword puzzle-type lattice. By solving the crossword, the receiver is able to learn the message. However, the message is known to the sender since it is written on a detachable sheet attached to the card when purchased. U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,901 describes another form of hidden message apparatus which comprises an element having a message thereon hidden under a removable opaque layer. The element is typically a tab, sticker or tag which can be affixed to an envelope to seal it. By scratching off the opaque layer, the receiver is able to learn of the message. Again, the message is not hidden to the sender since it is written on a second element releasably coupled to the first element.